Google Voice could arrive in Canada as Google prepares to update the service

It’s been a long time since the folks over at Mountain View updated Google Voice in any meaningful way, but in a sign that the service may finally roll out to more countries, including Canada, Google says significant changes are coming to the platform.

The Verge spotted a banner on top of the service’s website that says, “The New Google Voice is here,” with a link that invites users to try out the update. Clicking the link, however, leads to a 404 page.

In a statement issued to the website and other U.S.-based tech publications, Google confirmed it’s preparing to update Voice in a major way.

“Sorry, it looks like we must have dialed the wrong number! But don’t worry, this wasn’t a prank call,” said a spokesperson for the company. “We’re working on some updates to Google Voice right now. We have you on speed dial and we’ll be sure to share what we’ve been up to just as soon as we can.”

Google last pushed a major revision to Voice in October 2015 when it updated the app to support the native display resolutions of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

From a local perspective, however, the most significant update to Google Voice came when the company added an approved carrier list to the app, preventing Canadian users from using Google Voice even while masking their location with a VPN service.

With news of this latest update, it may be a sign that Google is finally preparing to officially bring Voice to Canada after years of hopeful rumours.

Yes, please! Isn’t this one of the most awaited Google services to be available in Canada?

TomsDisqusted

People are forgetting that Robellus own this country and don’t want stuff like that here. Ever wondered why Canada is pretty much the only country in the world that can’t have SkypeOut and similar services? It’s because Robellus made it so that only Canadian companies can allocate phone numbers so they don’t get any serious competition in VoIP or answering services etc.

While you are right about Robellus (Spotify family plans were blocked thanks to them), I’ve been making phone calls to landlines and mobiles through Skype and Voice/Hangouts forever. I don’t think Skype was ever blocked.

TomsDisqusted

Sorry, I meant SkypeIn, not SkypeOut. Robellus can’t stop them from putting calls thru to Canadian phones, but they can stop them from allocating phone numbers and that is critical because that’s what you need for a full service – to replace your Robellus service.

EcE

That’s probably right. I never tried having a Skype number so I can’t tell if it was blocked but I have no doubt it is/was.

It’s Me

It certainly was 5 or 6 years ago. I know I wanted it for a long time and using the 403 work around wasn’t great.

But I’m not sure if people care any more.

Zee

Google Voice, Google Pay, anything else Canada is waiting for?

ToniCipriani ✓pǝᴉɟᴉɹǝʌ

Fiber, Fi

Benoit Bourdua

Yup, Fi is the missing piece,

Arman

Fi(ber)

Scott

I’d take Google Pay and Fi over Voice any day of the week.

Sunny Lee

YouTube Red

John W

I went to the play store and it let me install google voice. It fails to verify my phone number though… kind of weird they’ll let me install it.

MXM4K

Google Voice can be used to make phone calls to the US and Canada, but you don’t get a number, and thus you don’t get all the features that make Google Voice great.

MXM4K

I won’t hold my breath. In my mind, we’ll never get Google Voice in Canada. If it does show up, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Benoit Bourdua

I have a US number but bringing Voice this side of the frontier would be nice.

But there’s absolutely nothing to suggest it’s coming to Canada.The author of this article is just full of shite.MobileSyrup is not what it used to be 3-4 years ago.

Homer J. Simpson

Not sure how any of this is indicative of Google Voice coming into Canada.

dc2000

Yeah, I don’t see the connection myself… clickbait?

Brian G.

Major clickbait!

Vito R.

Total clickbait!

Shogun

Have to agree that it’s unlikely we will see this in Canada anytime soon. There are some apps like Hushed that allow people to make and receive calls using their cellular or Wifi connection and you do get a number good for 30 days or longer that’s renewable. Unfortunately my experience with the app is that its far from perfect but it generally does what its supposed to.

Brian G.

Doesn’t Hangouts Dialer already cover this functionality

Shogun

For video calls here but not voice calls.

Brian G.

I’ve used it for voice calls to the U.S. over wifi.

Shogun

I don’t even see an option for voice calls. And I’m using a US Google account.

Brian G.

It’s an app that uses Google Hangouts to make calls.

EcE

You can dial with the HD. With GV you can have one number that rings on your mobile, work, home, web, etc at the same time (or share that number with strangers instead of your usual number). Check your voicemail on the web, get transcriptions of those same voicemails, SMS via email… I forgot what else used to be cool about it.

Crow550

This article is crap. Nothing hints at an international roll out. Would be cool for peeps in Canada but the Author is pulling info from his rear.

Google is so damn amazing and annoying at the same time. Google Wallet had the capability to work here like 6 years ago and yet Apple beat them to it. They blocked it here. Voice too. Yawn. Pick it up Google. We’re next door to you.

Allyouranusarebelongtous

Hard to care after being ignored for years. A company of almost unlimited resources and they kind of suck at releasing timely functionally awesome features. Painful. Now I’m supposed to care? Nope.

Anyone have more news as to when Canada will get Google Voice. I phoned Google and they admitted that it was coming to Canada.

Shawn

I am able to use Google voice to make calls from my MacBook, However it will not let me select a Canadian phone number and shows up as “unknown” on the caller ID of whomever I’m calling. I’d love to be able to carry over things like calls and texts to my MacBook without having to downgrade to a iPhone.

The Guy

I am aware that we in Canada can use Google Voice but I read somewhere that Canada plus some other countries will be getting their own Google Voice phone number, just like in the U.S.